Need Self Rising Flour? Mix your own!

Self-rising flour is a handy thing to have on hand if you tend to make a lot of biscuits and quick breads and other recipes that specify self-rising. I happen to like King Arthur's self-rising flour, since it's made from a softer wheat than typical all purpose flour. Unfortunately, it's not always available at my local store.

Bummer.

I buy it online when I'm buying other King Arthur products, but I tend to use it all before it's time to place another order. Oh well ...

The good news is that self-rising flour isn't a magical or complicated product. It's easy to mix it up yourself. Sure, you won't get the benefit of the softer wheat flour, but that's not going to kill a recipe. If I'm not planning on making multiple recipes that require self-rising flour, I mix just enough for a recipe or two.

When I know I'm going to be making a lot of biscuits and similar goods over the next week or so, I mix up larger batches. This stuff doesn't go bad quickly, so you don't need to fret about leftovers that hang around for a few weeks or even a few months.

Want to make some? Here's how:

For a small batch of self-rising flour:

2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and whisk well to distribute the baking powder through the flour. Or, if you prefer, you can sift it together. Store the same way you store your flour.

For a large batch of self rising flour:

1 5-pound bag all purpose flour
1/2 cup baking powder
2 tablespoons salt

Stir or sift the ingredients together well so that the baking powder is evenly distributed in the flour. Store the same way you store your flour.

Pumpkin Quick Bread

I get a kick out of it when people ask me questions about baking. Just the other day, I got an email from Indonesia from someone who had a question about sweet potato donuts. I answered as best I could, given that the original recipe wasn't mine and I'm not familiar with Indonesian sweet potatoes.

I hope I helped.

So when m friend Carla called and asked if I could take a look at a pumpkin bread recipe and make it work, I said sure.

The biggest problem with the recipe was that the instructions mentioned sugar, but there was no sugar in the ingredient list. How much sugar?

I gave the recipe a try with added sugar and a few other adjustments, and I wasn't happy with the results. The spices seemed off. Too much clove, for one thing. The cake had a harsh flavor. Maybe the recipe was written for people whose spices are five years old.

By the time I was done tweaking and changing, the recipe wasn't quite the same recipe any more. I even changed the mixing instructions.

I think this was a pretty big success.

Pumpkin Bread

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups (15 3/4 ounces) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans with baking spray - I use the spray that includes flour - or grease and flour the pans the old fashioned way, if your prefer.

Combine the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, water, and vanilla in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. A stand mixer isn't required, this is just as easy with an electric mixer or by hand. Mix until blended. If you're using your stand mixer, mix slowly or you'll spew liquid all over.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Stir or whisk gently to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well combined - but you don't need to beat it. Just blend. If you're using a stand mixer, it might be easiest to add the flour in several additions, so you don't spew flour when you turn on the mixer.

Add the nuts (if you're using them) and stir to combine

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake at 350 degrees until the breads are richly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean - about 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Remove the loaves from their pans and cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Microwave Buttery Buttermilk Cornbread

My friend Carla from Good Cook called me up one day and said, "I'm going to send you a microwave bowl. Can you bake bread in the microwave with it?"

And I said, well, I don't know, but it's not going to get brown. But lemme see what I can think of.

I considered making a microwave cake, like a mug cake, but bigger.

But then someone on Facebook was talking about cornbread, and I saw someone on Food Network serve a piece of microwave cornbread, and I figured, yeah, that would be good for dinner.

There must be a bazillion recipes for cornbread, right? I decided I didn't want something too sweet. I considered adding cheese or jalapenos. I hoped this would fit in the bowl.

Most of the time, it takes a couple tries before I get something exactly right, but I have to say I really liked this just the way it was. It's really buttery, so I hope you like butter. And it's fluffy and light rather than dense.

Needless to say, I used the bowl I got from Good Cook, but a similar-sized bowl or baking dish should be just fine.

The cool thing about this bowl is that it's got its own holder that stays cool, and it's got a lid, as well. It would be really handy for reheating soups or sauces.

Microwave Cornbread

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

You might as well make this all in one bowl. Melt the butter in the bowl in the microwave. Don't get it too freakishly hot, because you don't want to cook the egg when you add it. Just get it melted.

Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until it's combined.

Add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Start by stirring the dry stuff to get the baking powder distributed in the flour a bit, then stir it all together.

Put it in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high (depending on the power of your microwave). Stick a toothpick in it, and if it comes out clean, it's done. If it's got wet goo in it, put it back in the microwave and cook for another 15-30 seconds at a time, until it's done. Keep track of how long it cooked, so you know what to do next time.

And that's it. Serve it straight from the bowl. It's really fluffy and a little crumbly when it's warm, but it's pretty darned good. You won't get any browning, but you don't miss it as much as you would on a yeast bread.